*lengthy status warning* Elliot Rodger: the late, memorial-weekend terror. Here is a man, acting much like that of a child embracing his favorite comic book villain, who aimed to enact vengeance upon his community. A vengeance that amounted to some rational resolve for his civil and interactive inertia. We see him as a coward, as a psychopath, and [bluntly] an infatuated, entitled prick. Simply viewed as a deranged idiot; absolutely. What we seem to overlook are a number of factors that incur within this odd consciousness amidst modern, city/suburban communities of dense populations. For one, it appears he was being treated for Aspergers syndrome - a mental disability ranking inside a field of autism specifically registered to lingual and cognitive dysfunction. While this is broad and seemingly controversial in terms of defined mental disease, it is still largely categorized and understood in the pediatric community. A large issue that stimulates manifestations in individuals with Aspergers is their inability to behave “normally” when it comes to social interaction. This ultimately makes them seem weird, distant, unapproachable, and somewhat immature. This gets worse because they desire friendship and communal involvement just like anyone else, but they end up being outcast for their awkward or misunderstood behavior. The fact that they feel unwelcome and pushed aside doesn’t aid their evolutionary need to overcome this mental complication - it only stretches it. This disability can gradually be trumped (or at least calmed) by patience and open mindedness, and a welcoming demographic. Adversely, the rejection role regularly weighing on their consciousness only fuels frustration and depression. The premise that people are so socially inept today because of a lack of genuine communication and interaction makes everyone’s life that much more challenging when it comes to feeling self-worth and value in the eyes of their peers. This is magnified tenfold in those with Aspergers because of their growing nervousness and apprehensiveness in unique social settings. They need to be able to communicate, and learn how to behave in order to catch up to those in their age group and sect of general affiliation. This isn’t a direct duty needed to be fulfilled by outlier society, but a simple byproduct of acting humanely among one another - even those we are uncomfortable around. Unfortunately, our interaction tends to become categorically worse, only promoting these social and mental disorders to brinks of devastation. His issues seemingly manifested in a very irrational and vile form of entitlement. A tumor of hate and disparity. This not only could be because of his perceived neglect and rejection over the years (and failed advances in approaching woman / dating as he regularly put it), but also possibly because of how he was raised. His sense of entitlement could very well have been bred in his home and community, surrounded by wealth and gifted luxury, without proper attention. He may not have learned the effort he needed to put forth in adapting to his disability. Of course, his parents aren’t to be solely blamed, nor the chauvinist / masculinist material he may have read online to further catapult his misguided beliefs. Much of us play a part in this blame. We all have our own issues of entitlement, and become more resistant to necessary communal interaction when we indulge our perceptions of status and hierarchal acceptance. Materialistic self-worth, platformed on social status and popularity. We become irrationally competitive and judgmental, while mutating to every whim of commercial taste to stay ‘relevant’ in a continually revolving, capitalistic quench for identity. Many of us no longer do what’s in the best interest of our own genuine desire (no matter how much we may choose to tell ourselves that). We are simply acting on the hope of staying desirable and admired amidst our peers and endeavors. Elliot’s actions were in fact due to a strong mental disturbance and inability to rationalize his pending actions, however one could argue most of the people in his life (both male and female) indirectly guided him to this breaking point. Admittedly, it is not our job to fix or help those we don’t understand - it is, however, our job to treat anyone we may or may not know with some modest level of humanitarian decency. Avoiding and belittling those we do not understand has never, and will never, solve these unfortunate circumstances. Consider the effects of your actions on those around you, as you observe the actions of others interacting with you. As much as Elliot, or any human for that matter, is not entitled to a significant other that suits his taste, we are not entitled to belittle / reduce others to lesser, social organisms not worth our simple acknowledgment. huffingtonpost/2014/05/24/elliot-rodger-video-shooting_n_5387272.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 22:47:21 +0000
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